Toshiba 1998 Annual Report Download - page 26

24. Toshiba Corporation Annual Report 1998
OVERVIEW
Environmental activities are an integral element of Toshiba’s management policies.
Every aspect of operations reflects these issues. There were many accomplishments in
fiscal 1997. Among them were more environmentally conscious products, programs to
promote recycling, and acquisition of international certification. Toshiba plans to fur-
ther emphasize these activities. Specific goals include reinforcing programs overseas
and accelerating the introduction of products with a minimal environmental impact.
Toshiba and the Environment
TOPICS
At its Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Toshiba is
refining its system for assessing the environmental impact
of products from their design through the entire life cycle.
■ ALL DOMESTIC BASES ISO 14001 CERTIFIED
OVERSEAS CERTIFICATION NOW PROCEEDING
Toshiba is firm ly resolved to earnin g ISO 14001 certifica-
tion . Th e goal of certifyin g all 21 Japan ese operating bases
was fulfilled in Septem ber 1997. Now, work has started to
gain certification at all overseas subsidiaries by March
1999 an d all dom estic group com pan ies by September
1999. Th is process h as already been com pleted in Europe.
Group m em bers in Asia an d th e Americas are curren tly
m oving toward certification .
■ RECYCLING PROMOTION GROUP ESTABLISHED
To provide a un ified organ ization for all environmen tal
activities, Toshiba form ed th e Corporate Environ m ental
Protection Coun cil in 1991. The conference sets goals an d
con ducts periodic progress reviews. Oversight covers m an-
agemen t system s, new tech n ologies, production, sales and
all other elem en ts of operations. Each division and operat-
ing base in Japan has its own con feren ce, wh ich con stantly
seeks to im prove en vironm en tal program s. In fiscal 1997,
Toshiba establish ed a Recyclin g Prom otion Group. The
aim is to prepare for the m andatory household applian ce
recycling standards th at will becom e effective in Japan in
2001. Tosh iba plan s to h ave an efficient, low-cost used
appliance collection system in place as well as m ethods for
efficient dism antling an d th e reuse of waste m aterials.
■ EASY-LCA SYSTEM DEVELOPED
Toshiba’s Environ m en tal Engineerin g Laboratory h as devel-
oped a system to m easure th e environmen tal impact of
specific products. Called “Easy-LCA,” this system calculates
en vironm en tal impact based on the m aterials used and
helps design products. Poten tial effects of a product on the
atm osphere an d water, energy con sum ption and m any
other variables are taken into accoun t. Presently, th e group
is studyin g how to incorporate the analysis of harmful
substan ces in products into th e evaluation process.
■ TOSHIBA LAUNCHES ENVIRONMENTAL BUSINESSES
Drawin g on its exten sive base of technology, Tosh iba
develops a variety of en viron m ental system s. Fiscal 1997
saw com pletion of work on a system th at tran sforms dis-
carded plastics in to fuel oil. This was made possible by
overcom ing a m ajor obstacle: devising a practical m eth od
for removin g ch lorin e, essential for recyclin g plastics with
a h igh polyvinyl chlo-
ride (PVC) content.
Toshiba succeeded in
facilitating recyclin g
for plastics containin g
up to 50 percen t PVC.
In a major advance, Toshiba dis-
covered a system that transforms
used plastics containing up to 50
percent PVC into fuel oil.